Welcome to Vienna: The Story of Austria as Reflected in the British and American Versions of the Soldier’s Guides to Austria

Abstract

This article discusses and analyzes British and American perceptions, postwar planning aims, and stereotypes about Austria and its future restoration–post World War II. The article uses the concept of “militourist gaze” in order to compare differences and similarities between the British and the American attitudes reflected in their military handbooks for Austria. Through comparative research and close reading of Austria—A Soldier’s Guide, with other Second World War II soldier’s guides that were published by the British and the Americans respectively, we can conclude that it was the British and not the Americans who published the booklet Austria—A Soldier’s Guide. Furthermore, a typeset titled “A Short Guide to Austria,” found in the British National Archives, reveals the American version of the soldier’s guide to Austria, although this version was never published and both armies distributed the British guide to their troops. Using the militourist gaze in our interpretation of the soldier’s guide(s) to Austria we can better understand how British and American military media used prewar stereotypes on Austrians and Austria in order to rebuild Austrian nationhood vis-a-vis Germany. In this sense the British Austria—A Soldier’s Guide holds a special place since it is intended not only for army indoctrination of troops and their mission in Austria, but also as a means of national propaganda for the Austrians themselves, both by using the Moscow Declaration as subtext in the guide and by voicing prewar Austrian self-understanding from the interwar period.